Neal praises young quartet

29 June 2013

Chris Slavin

Professional deals for rising talents

said he has high hopes for Wimbledon’s new crop of rising youngsters after they signed professional contracts yesterday.Neal Ardley

flanking Neal Ardley, who recalled the day over two decades ago when he signed his first professional contract at Wimbledon.Chace Jacquart, Youssouf Bamba,Charlie Fayers and Tom BeereThe photograph above shows (from left to right)

And the Wimbledon manager said that all four have impressed during their first week of full training with the seniors.

, Neal said: “Chace, Charlie, Youssouf and Tom have all signed their deals after a week when they have trained with all the senior professionals. They have not looked out of place at all and I am really chuffed with them. Some of the senior lads have said they are delighted with them. Sometimes when you get young players stepping up into a new environment and joining in with first-team training it can hinder the sessions and first-team players can get frustrated. That has not happened and the boys have been excellent.Dons PlayerSpeaking to Rob Cornell on

“I remember 22 years ago that I was in the same position and I signed my first professional contract at the club. It is a special moment, but I have told them that with first year professionals there is a success rate of about 10 per cent in terms of players going on and making a good career in the game. So I have told all four that they have to make sure they are in that 10 per cent. We will do our part with our development squad coming in and that will be great for them. I am over the moon with them.”

to be redirected.Young Professionals Neal Ardley was speaking during an in-depth interview for Dons Player, in which he talked about Andy Frampton’s arrival, strengthening his squad further and Kevin Sainte-Luce signing a new contract. For those Dons Player subscribers who may have missed our interviews with Chace Jacquart, Youssouf Bamba, Charlie Fayers and Tom Beere, they can still be watched on our premium site. We featured an article on the four young players when they were offered professional terms in May with Neal Ardley talking passionately about youth development at Wimbledon. If you missed that article, please click on